Nonrefillable bottle closure



Oct. 12, 1948. H. W. HAGEN 2,451,336

NONREFILLABLE BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed Aug. 29, 1946 Patented Oct. 12, 1948 S. GFFEQE;

Application August 29, 1946; Serial No. 6933705 InGana-da April 1, 1946 8. Claims. I.v

Thepnesent'invention relatesto. a bottle closure of the type which is inserted into the neck of a bottle or' similar container. after the same has been filled, and is then suitably sealed thereto, so; that its removal will be. impossible without breaking. the seal: andithusreuealing the fact that the; bottle. has: been: tampered with. Moreover; the interior: construction of the closure is suchas to: prevent the unauthorized. refilling. of the bottle after" its contents. have been: discharged.

The device differs from. the. usual. type of. nonreiiilable bottle in: that it is: not a. part of the bottle stnuctune: itself, but is attachable to any bottle or similancontainer which has. the. proper. dimensions; tor: which; it has. been. designed.

This applicationv isa. continuation-in-part of my co-pending application Serial No. 533,483,. filed; May 1,. 19kb,. now. Patent: No. 2, i0.83634i.

Que-oi the-obj ects ofathe inventioniis toprovide acomparatively simple; type. of non refillable: hot-tie closure which contains but a minimum number of parts"; WhichlSi readily.- assembled, is simple and: positiVe-indts actiom. and; when. sealeot to a. bottle. willleifectively prevent theunauthor izedl refilling thereof, also. being so constructed that tampering with: the-liquid1 sealing means'will' be: substantially impossible further; object is: to provide. a bottle: closure which: can; bereadily and; easily manufacturedfrom. either. metal. on plastic. material, which. is easy to: assemble and if desired may be: reused by. the original bottlers oi the material; by the; simple operation of. removing.v asuitable-seal, re:- filling; thebettleand v replacing the seal.

Broadly speaking; the: bottle closure comprisestubular housing having; centrally positioned therein a core. body; with cutaway shoulders so. that. the; core body." will in efiiect consist, of. the. inventetdlfrustums of. twocones. The. interiorof the: tubule-n housing moreover. ie; so: shaped. that. it is wider at the bottom than at the 1:09,. and: at, the; bottom. thereof. there is.- a. cup provided with. aplunalitg' of valve openings which; when the. device. is; in. a vertical positiom. are. closed by fneely'movablevalves, suchgasiballs, pear shaped. bodies; or; the like, which are movable within. a limited; space im suitable recesses. prouidedalong, the: exterior. side; walls; of, the.- central: core. body...

'Ilhe-present-invention is: illustrated; in. a single sheet of drawings, in which Flee. L. is an: elevational view. par-.tlyv in section, showing; the: upper. end: air the.- necls. ofx a; bottle. with: the device, oi: the present. inuentionl inserted: intuit/happening: the-neon, andlsealeds to, the. bottle;

Fig; 2 is, al ventical sectionat View; along line I lily-forming a part of: the. completed device;

Fig; dis. a. perspective: view of: the bottom. aperturedcup of. the: bottle. closure Fig. 6 -is.-. across sectional. view alongthe line- E'.--6' of Fig. 2;.

Fig. '7: is a bottom view; of. the core. portionrof the bottle closure,

Fig. 8.- is a, partial elevationai: view,.part1y. cut. away and). partly in: seotiorn. showing another method of. assembling. of. the bottle.- closure; and" Fig. 9 is a perspective view of amodifiedior-m of". valve.

Referrin first to- Fig; 1,, a... suitable. neck. 1 0.0:; abottle has inserted: into: the; opening. H thereof the lower cylindricalaend 1220f thebottle closure.

the depth. of penetration. thereofinto; the. bottle neckl opening M1 beinglimitedshoulder-s 13;

A suitable sealing-ring 14 of. cork orplastic: material serves; to. sealthe; shoulder t3 against the mouth of the neclcoiathebottlen Provided. at. the uppenend ot the. bottle.- closure, thereeis an interiorly threaded can- I51 which-is threadedupon: the externally threaded upper extensions [5a of. the bottle closure, so as to serve as a meansior closing: the same: when it, isnot. in use.

Moreover-An. order 1011:1016, the: bottle closune on: t'11ie..neck-v 10 ofthe; bottle; there is provided sealing; means: [6 which: surrounds boththe upperportions otthe; neck, of. the. bottle; and a partot the. portion. Hi of: the bottle closure. Inuse,,it.is intended-to has/ethev bottle closure placed in theneek. 0fthe bottleuntil the; gasket Ht rests.- againstthe. mouth: at the bottle. whereaiter. the. sealingamemberl H5; is placed thereon. This'sealinggrnember, whichamaybeoia soft metaLsheet. of: plastic; material, eto.,.may suitablybe provided with proper indiciaindicating the; name. ofthe maker ofthe contentstof the.-bott1e;,andztheneiore serve as: a means. both. to; identity thev material sold-inithebottle; andi a]soetoindicatewhether the, bottle closure has been unauthorizedly tampered with.

The: bottle closure? itself. consists of. the; body; memberon housing; I I. the lower: end. L8.- cf: which may be: provided-with external threads. ML. The housing; k1 is intended. to. receive the central. core member- .20-which=.preer.ably-, but:no.t;nec:essa-rilu-,. has the.- shape. shown; in. the. figures Thiscoreimember- 20.; by being positionedcene trallywithin; the bodw I1 1: thereby provides.- an, annular space 3.6mm the passage-0t. fluids,.either liquid or gaseous, as will hereinafter more fully appear. The core member 20, which preferably is in the form of an inverted frustum of a cone has a lower cylindrical portion 2| which is longitudinally cut away at its end to provide a number of recesses 22 in which valves 23 may move in a direction which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the core member. V

The upper portion of the core member is pref,- erably in the form of 'an inverted frustum of a cone 28, the uppermost or widest end 25 being preferably wider than the opening 26 in the top of the bottle closure.

A cup 21 is provided to serve as the lower obturating member for the bottle closure, being as best seen in Fig. 5, provided at its bottom with a centrally located square opening 28 and, for example, four circular openings 29 for the reception of the valves 23.

The cup 21 may, if desired, be internally threaded so that it may be screwed on to the threads l9 of the lower portion 18 of the bottle closure, as shown in the'fully assembled construction in Fig 2. However, it is very desirable to first make a subassembly of the core member 20, the cup 2? and the valves 23, by extending a lower projection 30 of the body member through the opening 28. This projection is preferably of the same shape as the opening 28 but just small enough to pass comfortably therethrough, and may be threaded as shown in Fig. 2. Threaded thereon is a cap 3| which serves to hold the core member in contact with the bottom of the cup 21, thus forming a complete assembly such as shown in Fig.

The valves 23, while resting in the openings 29, cannot escape from the assembly by reason of the fact that the core member 20 is wider at those portions extending upward from the cup 27, so'

that the assembly shown by Fig. 4 can be handled as a separate article without danger of the valves falling therefrom. I

In finally assembling the bottle closure of the present invention, the subassembly as shown in Fig. 4 is pushed upwardly into the housing [7, the

. internal threads of the cup 2'! engaging with the external threads IQ of the lower portion l 3 of said housing. 7 v

However, it is within contemplation of the invention to simplify the assembly by adopting the expedients illustrated in Fig. 8. Thus, the cup 2? in that case is not threaded nor is the extension 30 of the core member threaded, but is merely made square and extends through the opening 28. This extension 30 is suitably provided with a transverse opening 32 through which extends a suitable cotter pin 33. In assembling the bottle closure the cup- 2! is merely pushed on to the extension l 8, which in this case is not threaded, but which is provided with a peripheral groove 34 into which the upper edge 35' of the cup 21 is spun, thus holding it in place. In this case also asubassembly such as shown'in Fig. 4 may be made up and then assembled with the main body portion [1.

ternal wall of the portion [8 of the bottle closure, being prevented from going too far by the lower portion 2| of the core member. The balls uppermost will move similarly inthe recesses 22. In any event, liquid can freely flow through the lower portion of the annular space 36 which exists be- I tween the housing I! and thecore member 29 while air may flow through the upper portion of that space without interfering withthe liquid, the result being an even flow of the liquid from the opening 26. 7

When the bottle is returned to the upright position the valves automatically'fall or roll back into their holes 29.

The reason for making the inverted frustum of the cone 2e larger at the top, and likewise makin the portion 28 of the core member partly inversely conical, is to prevent any one from pushing any instrument such as a wire, hook, or the like, into the bottle closure in an attempt to dislodge the valves so that refilling of the bottle would be possible.

The method of assembling the'device as follows:

, The four valves 23 are first placed in the cup 2? while keeping a finger over the opening so that the valves will not fall therethrough. Thereafter, 7

the core member 20 is placed in position with its lower square portion extending through the When in the vertical position the valves 23 will serve to close the openings 29so that if any attempt be made to pour liquid into the bottle, this will be prevented. However, when tipping the provided of course that the cap l5 has been re- 1 moved. In the horizontal position the valves 23 which are lowermost will roll or slide along the inopening 23, and then either the cap 3| is screwed thereon or the cotter pin 33 shown in Fig. 8, is inserted, thus forming a subassembly consisting of, the following parts: The core member 29, the cup 21, the four valves 23, and either the cap 31, or the cotter pin 33.' This subassembly may there fore be made up in advance by relatively inexperienced operators and can be kept in stock without danger of the valves falling out of place. Final assembly is then made by either threading the cup 2? on to the portion I! of thehousing or by securing it in the manner shown in Fig. 8. The central core member 20 performs an important double function. In the first place it assures the proper separation between liquid and gaseous fluids when the contents of the bottle are being discharged, and thus permits the free and even flow of the liquid without the necessity of shaking the bottle and without the intermittent flow whichhas been the characteristic of so many of the non-refillable bottle closures of the past.

The device may be made of any suitable material, such as metal or a suitable plastic composition whichmay, for example, be molded, as by injection molding, of such compositions as cellulose acetate, ethyl cellulose, or Various thermoplastic and/or thermosetting resins, taking into consideration of course the nature of the contents of the bottle. It is quite evident that the device must of course be made of such materials as are not soluble in or affected bythe contents of the bottle.

The actual shape of the various portions is of course subject to a matter of considerable choice, but the presence of the centrally located core member 20 is the important part of the present in-' vention, particularly because of its ability to prevent tampering with the valves .23 and also by effecting a proper separation between the flow of liquid on the onehand and ofair on the other.

While the valves 23'have been illustrated as Fig. 9, namely that of a pear shaped body member 31 and a therefrom depending leg 38, which leg will of course depend through the openings 29 of the bottom of the cup 21.

Other suitable valves may be used provided that they are freely operative under the influence of gravity to open or close substantially in the manner described.

Having described the invention and the manner of its operation, what is claimed as new is:

1. A bottle closure comprising a tubular housing the bottom of which is bounded by a cup having apertures therein, a core member secured to said cup and spaced from said housing and forming therewith an annular path for fluids, said member also having valve-guiding recesses along its longitudinal axis, and a plurality of valves capable of closing the apertures in said cup, said cup havin an upwardly extending skirt surrounding the lower part of said housing and secured thereto.

2. A bottle closure for rendering bottles nonrefillable comprising a stopper partly insertable into a bottle opening and sealing means for securing said stopper to the bottle including an annular gasket positioned between the mouth of the bottle and a shoulder on said stopper, said stopper comprising a tubular housing, an inverted frusto-conical internal core forming with the interior walls of said housing an annular path for fluids, a cup having valve-receiving apertures therein secured to the lower end of said housing and to said internal core, and freely movable valve-members positioned between the walls of said housing and the bottom of said core member, upward movement of said valves being limited by the increasing diameter of said core.

3. A sub-assembly for a bottle closure comprising a body of the general shape of two superposed inverted conical frusta, the lower one being provided with valve-receiving and guiding recesses at its lower, smaller end; and a cup having an upwardly extending skirt secured to 6 said end, the bottom of said cup being provided with valve-openings, and valves for closing said valve-openings.

4. A bottle closure for rendering bottles nonrefillable comprising a tubular housing, means for closing the top and bottom thereof, the latter means comprising a cup-shaped member having an upwardly extending skirt and valve-openings and a central opening in the bottom thereof, a core-member partly extending through said central opening and for the most part extending upwardly into said housing and forming with the internal walls thereof an annular path for fluids; means for securing said core member to said cup; means for securing said cup to said housing; and movable valves housed between the internal walls of said housing and the bottom of said core member;

5. A bottle closure as defined in claim 4 in which the core member comprises two superposed inverted conical frusta.

6. A bottle closure as defined in claim 4 in which the core member is provided near its lower end with valve-guiding and receiving recesses.

7 A bottle closure as defined in claim 4 in which the skirt of said cup surrounds the lower end of said housing and is secured thereto by crimping.

8. A bottle closure as defined in claim 4 in which the skirt of said cup surrounds the lower end of said housing and is crimped thereto and in which that part of the core member extending through the central opening of the bottom of the cup is secured by a cotter-pin HARRY W. HAGEN.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Hagen Oct. 1, 1946 Number 

